On the eighth day of the contactless challenge, the scores suggest that if you venture to London with an NFC-capable device, there are a variety of goods and services you will be able to pay for via contactless, if only at a selection of outlets. With Ewan now in Barcelona, will the GSMA’s favorite mobile city (in the words of Jon Choo) have anything to offer in the race to the #GemaltoNFC finish line?

With plenty of compatible phones available, the only thing holding our NFC-handset users back from a world of super quick payments is the variety of outlets for which to pay for things. If you have an NFC phone in London, based on Ewan and Jon’s experiences, you’ll have no problem buying food or drink, but when it comes to something a little less frequent (like a haircut, or cinema trip) at the moment, it looks like you’ll need your wallet too.

One task we set Jon and Ewan was to send us a postcard, using their NFC phones to pay for it and thus seamlessly merge the old with the new. Why not just send an email, or a picture message? Because this quest demonstrates that the Post Office is an organization fully embracing new technology. If the Post Office can do it, then surely some of the trendy new independent shops in London will have implemented NFC too? Well, according to Jon, this isn’t yet the case.

As phones become an indispensable part of our existence, this presents an excellent opportunity for retailers to connect with their tech savvy customer base. And not just through payments…

So, as the challenge draws to a close, and the scores stand at Jon 194 – Ewan 153, what else can you think of that our bloggers can do with their Samsung Galaxy SIII NFC phones in London or Barcelona? Have you seen any NFC posters on your travels? Send your suggestions (on a postcard) to @Ew4n and @JonChoo and use #GemaltoNFC before the challenge concludes at midnight on Wednesday!